The Tribune

By SANCHESKA BROWN

Tribune Staff Reporter

sbrown@tribunemedia.net

ONE person is in hospital and several others received medical attention after an “explosion” at Bahamas Power and Light’s Blue Hills Plant, officials said yesterday.

According to Bahamas Electrical Workers Union (BEWU) President Paul Maynard, eight employees were treated in hospital yesterday afternoon after the explosion.

Mr Maynard told The Tribune that one man, a supervisor, is in critical condition in the Intensive Care Unit, two other employees were said to be under “observation” and five other men were treated and released on Wednesday afternoon.

However, a statement released by BPL yesterday evening said only one employee remained in hospital after the incident.

Mr Maynard remained tight-lipped on what caused the explosion and the extent of the damage at the facility but said the fire will not affect power supply in New Providence.

“The men are being well cared for,” Mr Maynard said. “There was an explosion around 1pm. It was an accident; no one’s fault and we are giving the victims the best care.

“I cannot say much, but the accident happened while the men were in the process of installing the new rental generators. This will not affect the power generation. The site has been prepared and the generators should be up and running by the weekend. The men will be fine, we are seeing to it they get the best possible care.”

In a statement released yesterday, BPL said “a brief system disturbance” on Wednesday afternoon “resulted in a temporary loss of supply to a very small number of customers.”

“The disturbance, which occurred just before 1pm, happened as several BPL employees were carrying out planned work at the company’s Blue Hill Road Power Station,” BPL said. “While the exact cause of the disturbance is still being investigated, company officials acknowledge that one employee was injured and is being treated in hospital. As a precaution, other employees working in the area received medical attention and have been discharged.”

BPL said the incident was isolated and they do not expect any further affect on operations.

Last week, BPL’s Corporate Communications Manager Arnette Ingraham admitted that the site for the rental generators had not been prepared prior to the arrival of the units.

She said the company has been “temporarily patching” its troubled equipment but until its rental generators are installed there is “no way to tell” when frequent power outages will end.

However, Mrs Ingraham said the generators should be up and running by this weekend.